Next-Gen security can help Indian firms minimise cyber attacks

As Indian enterprises gain more exposure and attention globally, there is a worrying downside: these firms are at an increased cyber security risk owing to aged and vulnerable security solutions at work, experts have warned.

The internet userbase in the country has steadily increased from 238 million last year to 360 million this year — a key reason for the growing cyber security risks as well as the businesses to counter these risks. (Reuters)

As Indian enterprises gain more exposure and attention globally, there is a worrying downside: these firms are at an increased cyber security risk owing to aged and vulnerable security solutions at work, experts have warned.

The internet userbase in the country has steadily increased from 238 million last year to 360 million this year — a key reason for the growing cyber security risks as well as the businesses to counter these risks.

According to Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in security software and solutions, 2016 has proved to be a year of online extortion through various malicious attacks in India. Over 180 Indian companies were victims of “ransomware” — or online extortion schemes — in the first six months of this year, it said.

“As Indian firms continue to digitise records and move towards a fully online world, concerns keep mounting over the security of the reams of data and confidential information stored online. This has required enterprises and entities to move, at a near-record speed, to transform and upgrade security strategy and systems to ensure the safekeeping of all data,” said Vivek Malhotra, Cloud Leader, IBM India/South Asia.

“The recent ‘Cost of Data Breach Study: India’ report by IBM and Ponemon Institute indicates that India has become a hot target for cyber hackers. The economy is digitising at a fast pace and cyber crimes are growing at the same speed and intensity,” Malhotra told IANS.

For Jaideep Mehta, Managing Director, International Data Corporation (IDC) South Asia, cyber security is of increasing importance as Indian companies digitise and, on the back of that, open up their boundaries through mobility, Cloud and supply chain digitalisation programmes.